The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for concentrating and simultaneously dewatering fine-grained materials. The method and apparatus of the invention is therefore adaptive to produce finished products of reduced moisture content which have been concentrated (densified).
Different methods for dewatering are known. For example, methods employing filtration, drying, thickening, centrifugating, etc. are already known in the art. The most advantageous method used contrifugation, which gives satisfactory results. The drawbacks of this last-mentioned method and of the other methods are that great capital investments are necessary; such methods usually require a high consumption of electric energy, and the apparatus for carrying out such methods must be assembled using rigorous constructional standards, etc.
Different constructions for carrying out the aforementioned methods are known. For example, such an apparatus may include known vibrational dewatering sieves, vibrational centrifuges, mechanical precipitation devices, different types of vacuum filters, precipitation centrifuges, etc. The drawbacks of the known constructions reside in their complexity, their relatively high consumption of electric energy, and their bulk, i.e., they demand large spatial requirements, etc.